When Suns coach Alvin Gentry gave guard P.J. Tucker his first career start Monday against the Oklahoma City Thunder, it was supposed to be a one-time effort to stop Kevin Durant. Tucker was to dog the NBA's third-leading scorer like he was his shadow.

Go to the corner of Fearless and Desperate. That's where you'll find Alvin Gentry at his best. • The Suns' head coach has shaken his starting lineup like a snow globe. He has made Michael Beasley his go-to guy. Go to the end of the bench, son. And at halftime of an embarrassing performance against the Kings on Monday, Gentry spared no feelings in a blistering locker-room assessment. • "It was not good, not good at all," Gentry said. "It wasn't anything I should've been saying during the Christmas or holiday season. But I think it got the word across."

Every four years, Americans line up behind rival presidential candidates and take sides in bitter election contests. But almost simultaneously, national pride swells as Americans join together in support of U.S. athletes competing in the Summer Olympic Games.

Over the five years since he last was in the NBA, P.J. Tucker has seen players come into leagues in six other countries with an expectation for success before struggling to find their roles and departing with a myopic view of their failures.